The Girl in Blue
by undisturbedpeace
Summary: Horatio is rescued by a mysterious girl dressed in blue after being in a terrible car accident, only to find out that she had died two hundred years ago. Now Horatio must look deep into the history of the crime lab to solve her murder.
1. Chapter 1

**A Note from Me to You:** Most ghost stories don't have happy endings, or they always have horrid deaths and histories. The following fan fiction will have a scenes of violence/rape so if that is not your cup of tea, then I beg you not to read it. But for those adventurous ones, who wish to read this, please enjoy it!

**Chapter 1**

The drive to work was always dull and unexciting, nothing never really happened on the streets of Miami. But today, it was gray and stormy, and to Horatio Caine, that meant that an unwelcome event would follow. As he drove the Hummer toward the direction of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab, he even swore that he saw a flash of lightning in the distant sky.

Today promised to be particularly boring…for some reason not one crime had been called in over the past two weeks, and as far as Horatio knew no one in his team was having a day off…except Calleigh, who was in the Florida Keys with her father for some quality father-daughter time.

At that last thought a flare of lightning did streak the sky and a loud clap of thunder rumbled inside the clouds. Horatio pursed his lips into a thin line. Oh yeah…it was just one of those days: the days where Miami was going to be treated to a miserable down-pour and the flood warnings would go up again. Already the city had four of those in a row and Horatio, for one, was getting sick of it.

A hard rain began to fall.

_Just my luck,_ thought Horatio as he turned on the windshield wipers and squinted as best he could through the sheets of water. _God, I can barely see anything!_ He flipped on his cell phone and called Eric, just as he stopped at a red light – or what he hoped was a red light.

"You're fifteen minutes late, H," said Eric over static. "Normally you're the first one in…you OK?"

"I'm fine, just stuck in traffic," replied Horatio. "And the rain is coming down pretty hard. I shouldn't be though I don't think."

"OK then. You'd better hurry…the chief has just put a boatload of paperwork on your desk and he wants it all done by Monday."

_Dammit._ Just when this day couldn't get any worse, the chief gave him a load of homework to do. Guess I won't be going home tonight, thought Horatio glumly. The light went to green and he hung up, easing the Hummer into the thirty-mile speed limit.

Quite suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two glaring headlights appear very closely to his window and the loud honking of a car horn blared into his ears. Horatio had no time to slam on the brakes as the truck's grill smashed into the driver's side of the Hummer, sending it into a violent and rapid spin. For a moment it was like time itself seemed to slow down as Horatio gripped the wheel for dear life. All he saw was Miami going into a protracted yet blurry rotation as the Hummer continued its mad figure-eights across the street. He heard people screaming; though the noise was very faint, as if he was trying to float out of his body, but then that was replaced by feelings of pain…something was cutting into him. Pieces of glass were flying across his vision like twinkling stars, except Horatio saw spatters of blood of them: his blood. For a second he knew that it was glass from the window and windshield that was cutting him. He thought, _Goddammit, this is not how I'm supposed to die…_ when the Hummer suddenly tipped over and started to roll, how many times Horatio wasn't sure. All he saw was the breaking glass, the Hummer's roof and doors caving in. All he felt was the pain becoming white-hot agony. When the Hummer decided to stop rolling, it was on its wheels again, and had stopped completely.

Horatio slumped in the seat, his death grip on the steering wheel fading into a feeble clasp. Through half-closed eyes he saw that there were crimson splashes all over the front of the car and he felt a hot liquid rolling all down his face. When he lifted his left arm he found that he couldn't do it very far so he had to lower his head to he could touched his brow. His hand came away bloody.

Then the pain kicked in.

Every part of his body hurt excruciatingly, though he wasn't sure what hurt the most. Darkness was beginning to settle in all around him and for a while Miami became so black that he couldn't see anything at all.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

"Horatio."

The voice calling him out of the blackness was soft and female. As Horatio struggled to get his eyes open he heard the voice again, this time more urgently: "Horatio, please wake."

When he did manage to finally open his eyes, through a shade of fogginess, Horatio saw what appeared to be a woman, a teenage girl to be more exact, standing outside the wrecked Hummer. She was very pale, and wore what looked to be a blue gown of some sort and a long blue cape with a large hood pulled over her head. She had a pale oval face and gray eyes and by her expression, she looked very distraught and she was also wringing her hands.

"Horatio," she repeated. "Please wake. Please."

"Help me," he said.

The girl, who looked to be about fifteen by the looks of her, nodded, still wringing her hands. "Aide is coming to you, Horatio, fear not," she said. Her voice had traces of an accent…British most likely.

Horatio blinked but the haze didn't go away. "Who are you?" he asked.

The girl turned around at the sound of people running toward the Hummer and Horatio heard the voice of Eric clearly calling out, "H? H, you hang in there, all right? We're coming!" She turned back to him and she looked panicked.

"I have to go!" she cried. "He's coming for me! I'm sorry!"

"Wait…" Horatio tried to reach out to her and his fingertips grazed the hem of her cape. It felt icy to the touch, but the girl was already off running toward the crime lab.

_Why is she going there?_ Horatio asked but he passed out again just as Eric and two officers ripped open the Hummer door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Horatio spent many days recovering from his injuries at Miami-Dade Memorial, drifting in and out of consciousness and momentary bouts of pain in which the doctors gave him large doses of painkillers. Members of his team floated to and from his hospital room and he heard voices report on his wounds: a broken rib, a dislocated shoulder, slight concussion…but it was all lost in a haze of drugs and deep slumber, where all he saw was the face of the beautiful girl in blue.

When he was well enough to leave Horatio signed his release forms and took a cab back to the crime lab, as he was still groggy from the painkillers. Calleigh and Eric were waiting for him, just in case he felt too weak to stand and walk by himself. Everyone cheered and applauded once he was escorted inside the lab, for everyone had been scared to death that Horatio would have been deceased from the wounds he had suffered. Now that they saw that he was in one piece they relaxed.

Eric was talking and it took Horatio all of his strength to just pull his mind into the conversation, "…you had us scared pretty bad, H, when we got to you," Eric was saying. "Did you see whoever hit you?"

"No," said Horatio faintly.

"I'm surprised that you lived through that," said Calleigh as they hauled Horatio up the stairs to his office. "From what we got from the shape of the Hummer…" Her voice was shaking.

The girl in blue suddenly flashed through Horatio's mind and he asked quickly, "There was a girl in blue who saved me…she took off running toward here. Did any of you see her?" Eric and Calleigh stopped, looking at him.

"What'd she look like?" asked Eric.

"Gray eyes," said Horatio, trying to remember. "She wore a long blue cape and a gown…"

Calleigh frowned slightly. "Horatio," she said. "We didn't see a blue girl come in," she said slowly. "She would have signed the visitor's log if she did."

"H, you were also in a lot of pain," said Eric. "Maybe you thought you saw her."

Oh I saw her all right, thought Horatio as they sat him down on the sofa. "She looked upset," he said. "I think someone is after her."

"You sure you feel up to working?" asked Calleigh worriedly.

In truth Horatio felt like someone had just dragged him all over Miami but he didn't want to show it. "I'm fine Calleigh," he said patiently. "Could you just check the visitor's log for me? As a favor?"

She nodded and left. Eric looked back at Horatio.

"I'd better take a look at that Hummer," he said.

He left, leaving Horatio lying limp and aching on the sofa. Staring up at the ceiling he thought back to the girl in blue…who was she and where did she come from? How was it that only Horatio could see her?

_Maybe she's a ghost._

Horatio was a skeptic when it came to the paranormal, so it was natural that he dismissed that thought from his mind. He was a man of science, not superstition. But there was something deep inside his soul that told him that this one time he was going to be very wrong.

Calleigh came back, this time with the visitor's log in her hand, and this time she was a white as a sheet, her expression that of utter shock. Slowly Horatio sat up and looked at her. "What is it, Calleigh?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He didn't mean to say the last part but he couldn't help it. When she looked at him he knew that her alarm was genuine.

"Maybe I have," she said. "Look at this, Horatio."

She handed him the book and he looked at the page she had it turned to. There, written on the bottom of the page, was very delicate handwriting…obviously from a woman. But instead of leaving her name there was written on the page _Horatio Caine, you must help me_ and the date _1776_ right next to it in the "Date" column of the log.

"Maybe someone's play a joke," said Calleigh. By the sound of her voice Horatio heard the mistrust. He'd like to believe her…but his gut was telling him that this wasn't a joke. Someone was reaching out to him, begging for help. And if that person be dead or not, Horatio accepted the case nevertheless.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After that, things changed dramatically for Horatio and everyone at the lab. Paranormal activity seemed to occur almost overnight: cold spots were felt in all corners of the lab's many rooms and hallways, the strange and forlorn sobs of an unseen baby were heard every day in the firearms department, and soon Horatio was seeing the girl in blue almost everyday. _As if she's trying to tell me_ _something,_ he thought.

As a kid, Horatio loved telling ghost stories, he used to frighten the pants off his brother Raymond all the time with tales of people buried under the basement floor and ghosts rising from the grave to avenge their own deaths. He even thought his own house was haunted when he was a kid too…but that was after watching _The Exorcist_ and having a nervous night's sleep. Now it looked like he was living inside one of his own stories, and the feeling was terrible.

_Come on, Horatio,_ he told himself as he walked down the halls to the AV lab. _You've just been in a car accident that should have killed you but you survived. Maybe it's because of all the dope the doctors gave you for the pain…maybe that's why you're seeing things._

That's not what Cooper was going to tell him.

"Just to let you know," he told Horatio, "the equipment is acting real weird." He fiddled with the keyboard for a moment but the computer screens stayed black. Horatio was aware of the static sound coming out of the speakers.

"Has it been doing this all day?" asked Horatio.

"This morning everything was working fine! Now I don't know what's going on."

Horatio listened for a moment. For a second he thought he heard someone's voice calling out to him from the speakers…

"…Horatio…"

Oh yeah…there it was.

"Cooper," he said. "Cooper, did you hear that?"

"Hear what, H?" Cooper returned, stopping his frantic search on his equipment to look at him.

"…Horatio…help me…"

"That," said Horatio.

"H, all I'm hearing is pure static and it's driving me nuts. What're you hearing?"

"A voice…" said Horatio, narrowing his eyes. Then he smiled and gave a tight little laugh. "It's nothing, Cooper. Probably just the painkillers talking."

"You know, everyone's kinda worried about you," said Cooper looking at his boss apprehensively. "I mean, with your accident and all, you are sounding a bit…odd."

"I'm fine," said Horatio and he left the AV lab. As he walked, with every step he told himself, _You're not crazy…you're not crazy…you're not crazy…_ but he sure felt like it. Was it really just the medication talking? Or something else?

A faint pink glow attracted his attention and when he looked down he saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks. Right there before him was what looked like dimly lit goo that reminded Horatio of radioactive Pepto-Bismol, and it was seeping out of the floor and spreading into a wide puddle at his feet. It moved slightly and just kept growing and growing like a liquid amoeba.

_Oh my God…this isn't real…_

If that wasn't enough to convince him that he wasn't seeing things, then the smell that followed was enough to. It was appalling…the scent of something rotting away in a hot sun, of decaying body. It made Horatio's eyes tear up and he staggered back, coughing and fighting the impulse to vomit.

A flash of blue caught his eye and when he looked up from the horror before him he saw the apparition of the girl. She stood at the top of the stairs leading to his office, the large hood still partially hiding her face, still wringing her hands in absolute angst. Her rain-colored gaze held Horatio's like a nightmare and an aura of fear and unimaginable pain swirled around her like snow. She carried what looked like a bundle of something under her arm and when she saw that he was looking at it she smiled a little and began to walk toward him with the grace of a dancer. When she was within an arm's reach of him she held out the package and the smile faded off her face. "Look," she said, tears flooding her eyes and spilling over onto her cheeks. "Look at what I had to do…"

His heart going ninety miles a second, Horatio peeked at the thing she offered him and in doing so felt his heart drop into his stomach. The bundle wasn't really a bundle at all. It was a baby, a dead newborn baby.

Horatio swallowed against the lump in his throat and whispered, "You killed your own child…" He wasn't sure if he spoke with enough anger in his voice. After all, how could she do such a thing?

"He was going to kill us," sobbed the girl. "I couldn't let him…please, Horatio, please help me. You're the only one who can help me."

"How can I help you, sweetheart?"

She withdrew the corpse of her dead child into the folds of her blue cape. "What you seek is beneath this very floor," she said and, molecule by molecule, she vanished into the air, like a breeze.

_Beneath this very floor._ Horatio thought it over and looked down. The pink puddle was gone but a trace of the foul odor still lingered in the air. Is there something buried underneath the crime lab? he wondered. Who was going to kill this girl and what caused her to murder her own child in cold blood?

_Looks like I've got a crime on my hands,_ thought Horatio grimly. _Though I have no idea how I'm going to solve it._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As Horatio expected, the idea of digging up the grounds around the crime lab didn't sit well with the city or with his team for that matter. But Horatio didn't care…this was a case (and a screwy case at that) and it needed full attention. As his first day back on the job progressed, he beseeched everyone he knew in the higher chain of command to let him go through with his plan. It was obvious that the girl in blue was getting impatient – or insistent – as she was appearing more and more throughout the whole lab, only to Horatio and always with the body of her dead child in her arms. Finally, after countless meetings and arguments, the city of Miami gave an official "go ahead".

All casework was put on hold as construction crews worked around the clock digging up various areas outside the lab but to Horatio's great disappointment, nothing was found: no coffin, no grave.

Until…

"H! I think we found something here!" It was Eric standing at the main staircase that led to the crime lab's doors, and he was waving at him frantically. As Horatio walked to his side he noted the look of horror on Delko's face and that he was – literally – several shades of pale. Several members of the construction crew were also white as sheets and looking quite ill themselves.

In a shallow grave were the skeletal remains of two bodies: one was that of a woman in a blue gown, the other of a child – possibly an infant, who was wrapped tightly in the lady's arms.

"Is that her?" asked Eric, whom Horatio filled in on the girl in blue's disappearance before.

Horatio nodded solemnly, his eyes glued to the remains before him. Look at what I had to do, the girl had said.

"Get Alexx over here ASAP," he told Eric. "I need to know what happened to this girl and her baby."

"I thought you said she killed it."

"I did, but maybe there was a legitimate reason why she did." Horatio added quietly, "Tell Alexx to call me once she's got something." He slipped on his sunglasses and began walking up the stairs.

"Where're you going, H?" asked Eric.

"The library," replied Horatio grimly. "Looks like I've got some reading to do."

"Hold on a second before you go, OK? I'm coming with you."

Horatio smiled. "Never took you for a ghost person, Eric…this is new."

"Hey, it sure beats normal casework."

As he was walking to the Hummer Horatio saw her standing beside it, the breeze tugging at her cape. She was looking at him silently and for once was not twisting her hands in worry. She was just standing there.

"Yes ma'm?" asked Horatio softly, so no one else could hear.

The girl in blue smiled a little – just a little and lifted one hand, curling her index finger twice in "come-with-me" gesture. She began walking toward the lab and Horatio had no choice but to follow her. After all, she was a ghost…and ghosts have a nasty habit of disappearing in a wink. She promptly went through the door and Horatio almost went too – had he not remembered that he was solid and that she wasn't.

It was like stepping into a room inside the wrong house. Suddenly, the lab wasn't there, instead in its place was a comfortable-looking house that looked like something out of _The Patriot_. A fire was blazing away in the fireplace, two rocking chairs sat on either side, and a white cat snoozed and purred contently on the rug lying neatly in the middle. The floors were polished wood and there were little tables holding vases of flowers and papers. Outside the large window Horatio saw that it was dusk, though he knew that it was afternoon in his time. The home may have looked warm and cozy but Horatio felt very disturbed standing there, there was an aura of fear and heartbreak in the air. The girl in blue didn't seem to mind, she was in fact smiling as she removed her cape and hung it on a hook by the large oak door behind him. It was the very first time that Horatio had seen her clearly and he was amazed to see that she was a very attractive girl for her age: tall, slender, her oval face clean and slightly pink at the cheeks, her gray eyes bright and full of expression. Her black hair was bundled in a tight knot at the nape of her neck and when she untied it, it fell in a cascade of dark waves down to the small of her back.

She walked to a small desk that sat underneath a large mirror and pulled out the wooden chair as if to sit but she paused and looked at Horatio. She smiled again – this time wider – and then sat down in the chair slowly and with the grace of a queen. Taking a quill out from the small ink jar at her side she began to write on a piece of paper that was in front of her, her eyes squinting in the light of her single candle on her desk. Horatio crept to her side and looked over her shoulder, curious to see as to whom she was writing. Her handwriting was elegant and small and he could only pick up a few words.

_Dearest,_ her letter read. _Very soon my father shall be away to visit the state of_ _Virginia and I shall have the house to myself. I hope to see you once more before you report for duty in General Washington's army. I must say that I wish we never have come here to make war…why couldn't we have stayed in Britain and let the Americans go on with their lives? Why couldn't we have left you alone? It is not that I am saying that my life here has been an uncomfortable one – you have made my life the most happiest – but I do miss my country very much and am so angry with this state of affairs and what it is leading men to do. I shall never understand war, I'm afraid, but whenever I am alone with you I can always forget the miseries that war always brings. I pray that you send me word of your reply soon. But until then I shall remain yours in mind, heart, and spirit. Eve._

Eve. So that was her name. Horatio found himself smiling at that. She had a nice name.

Eve folded the letter and placed it into an envelope, sealing it with a wax seal. She grinned and giggled softly to herself and sat there holding the letter to her chest as if in the arms of her lover. Then the sharp sound of the front door slamming caused her to jump up and the letter fell to the floor. The smile faded off her face and was replaced by terror.

Horatio spun around in time to see a very tall man in a red uniform enter the room and his hand immediately went to his gun. The officer looked to be about forty, with a hawk-like face and deeply black eyes. He was thin and dirty, and looked very angry. When his gaze fell on Eve, Horatio's stomach dropped to the floor. _That's her father,_ he realized. _That man is her father. Oh God, what the hell is he going to do to her for writing to her boyfriend?_

Eve said in a trembling voice, "Father…you're home early. Did you have a nice ride?"

Her father grumbled and brushed passed her roughly, almost knocking her to the floor. He looked very drunk. She straightened and smiled forcibly. "Shall I fix some supper?" she asked. "What would you like?"

He turned on her and immediately his watery eyes fell on the letter that she had dropped. Before she could move he picked it up and opened it. After reading it, he glared at her and held it up.

"What's this, daughter?" he barked.

She stammered, "It's-it's nothing, Father. Just a letter."

He backhanded her across the face and she gave a cry and fell to the floor. Horatio raced to her side; unable to do anything in this horrid situation, but at least he could try and let Eve know that he was here.

_Eve, what do I do? Tell me, sweetheart…_

She seemed to have heard him for she looked at him, her hand on her bruised cheek. Her father had slapped her pretty hard.

_Eve…_

"Don't lie to me!" shouted her father as he picked her up roughly by the neck. He was choking her. "You were writing to him again, weren't you? After I have told you not too? What are you doing, Eve? Are you trying to betray us?"

Her eyes wide and tearful, she choked out, "He's…just…a friend…Father."

He smirked. "A friend? Well, your friend happens to be an American dog, my daughter, and I will not have you fraternizing with dogs while you live under my roof!"

Eve's eyes flashed and she broke away from her father, gluing herself to the wall. She was so close that Horatio could smell the lavender in her hair. "They are not dogs, Father! They are people just like us…just trying to make a living in another country…trying to free themselves from tyranny. Who made this tyranny? We did! We should not be here, Father, we should go home and leave the Americans be…"

Her father slapped her again, this time harder and with the letter, leaving a small bleeding cut on her cheek. He grabbed her by the arm and he was shaking with rage.

"I'll teach you…" he rasped and threw her to the floor. She tried backing away but he was too fast, too strong, and too drunk to let her. The next thing Horatio knew, the bastard was on top of Eve, ripping her beautiful blue gown open. She struggled as best as she could, tears streaming down her face as she clawed at him.

"Father," she pleaded. "What are you doing? Get off me! Get off!"

"Shut up you whore!" Her father slapped her again and yanked the skirt of her gown up to her thighs and was struggling with his trousers. "When I'm through with you you'll never spread your legs for those Americans again!"

"You're hurting me!" cried Eve. She was slapped in response. After that, she had stopped talking, but her struggle continued for a good couple of minutes until he slammed her head onto the floor. She ceased struggling and her father's hand remained locked on her throat as he brutally tore her open as if she were nothing but a sheet that he could tear with a knife. She jerked and gave a strangled scream of pain but she couldn't fight him off anymore, she was too weak. Her body jerked as he continued to thrust into her like a mad beast, the sound of her sobs faint to the loud grunts of her beastly father.

At that moment Horatio felt his heart wither and die inside him. This happened two hundred years ago, and he couldn't help Eve…not even if he tried. He wanted to reach out and pull that bastard off her, he wanted to blow his brains out for doing such a brutal and evil thing to his own daughter…but he knew that he couldn't. All he could do was watch and pray like hell that Eve's suffering wouldn't be longer.

_Oh, Eve, I'm so sorry. If only I could have done something…_

She looked at him – not passed him but at him – her eyes wide and streaming tears, her mouth stretched into a horrible grimace of agony. She looked like she was dying.

Finally her father groaned as he spent himself inside her and got up, ignoring the pool of blood spreading onto the floor around his daughter or the blood between her legs. He spat on her, pulled up his trousers and promptly went upstairs to sleep off his hangover. Horatio watched him go, his blood boiling in his veins, seethingly pissed off. God, he wanted to kill him…

_You goddamn bastard, I hope you're rotting in hell for this! If you were alive today –_ But his attention was caught by the sight of poor Eve sitting up, crying in agony as she did so. She slowly managed to stand up, bracing herself on her desk. Her eyes fell to her letter and she saw that her father had torn it to shreds. Her legs gave way and she lay there in the pool of her own blood, just weeping and weeping. Horatio wanted to do something – anything – to let her know that he was there and there for her and no one else: hug her, kiss her, get her to a goddamned doctor…

Very faintly he heard Calleigh's voice, as if she was somewhere else and he knew he had to leave.

_Eve…_

She looked at him and shook her head as if to say, _There_ _was nothing you could do, Horatio, go,_ and he turned did what she bade him to do.

The sunshine in Miami hurt his eyes as he promptly walked to the Hummer and got in. He didn't stare the engine; he just sat there, staring at the lab, the scene of Eve's rape still so strong in his mind. That poor girl…raped by her own father in front of him.

"Horatio?" It was Calleigh.

He looked at her and she stepped back when she saw his expression. "Oh my God," she said. "Are you OK? Do you need your meds again?"

_Tell her…_

"Calleigh," he said faintly. "I – I need to tell you something."

She smiled gently. "Sure, Horatio. You can tell me on the way to post. Alexx just called."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Oh my God, Horatio, that's terrible. That poor girl…good night, what was her father thinking?"

"I don't know, Calleigh, but I think that's why every time I see her, she's looks so guilt-ridden." Horatio saw that his hands were shaking. He just couldn't get the sight of Eve's face out of his head as she looked at him during her rape. "She just can't stand the fact that her own father would do such a thing to her. I can't either."

"But how do you explain the dead baby?"

"That I don't know yet…I'm almost afraid to find out."

Alexx greeted them both with an uneasy smile and showed them the bones which she had neatly laid out. "I can't even begin to tell you about what this baby must've gone through," she said.

"What does she say, Alexx?" asked Horatio, trying to picture Eve lying on the table instead of her remains.

"Massive head trauma for starters," replied Alexx. She pointed. "But there's also evidence of earlier abuse too. See the fractures on her pelvis?"

Horatio looked and he felt suddenly queasy. Eve's tortured face appeared briefly in his mind.

"Oh my God," breathed Calleigh. "Poor thing."

"That's not all I found on this honey," said Alexx. "Did a little background check on the lab after the bones were brought in. Found out some pretty interesting things."

"Like what?" asked Calleigh.

"Well," said Alexx, "back in 1776 a house used to stand on the exact spot where the lab is right now. It was owned by a British officer named George Thompson who had a daughter…"

"Eve," said Horatio quietly.

Alexx nodded, looking quite stunned that Horatio would know that. "Yeah," she said. "Eve. Anyway, Eve had an American boyfriend that some historians say was a spy against the British and others say vice viscera. Well her father hated the Americans so you can imagine what he was feeling when he found out that his daughter was seeing one behind his back."

"He raped her," said Horatio.

"He sure did, the sadistic bastard. But here's where it gets real bad…not long after she was raped she became pregnant."

_That bastard,_ thought Horatio. _Not only was she raped by her own father but she got pregnant by him!_

"Now reports vary on who the baby's father was," continued Alexx. "Some say the American was the father; others say it was Eve's own father."

"Then what happened?" breathed Calleigh.

"After Eve gave birth she threw the baby off the roof and then jumped off herself. Both were killed." Alexx looked at Horatio. "You Ok Horatio? You look a little green."

Horatio nodded, but he sure didn't feel OK.

When they got back to the lab Horatio was greeted by the one person he didn't want to see. As he was walking back to his office he was approached by none other than Rick Stetler, his arch-rival. "Horatio," he greeted in a tone of voice that Horatio found more than uncivil. "You got a minute?"

"I don't have time for this, Rick…"

"Do you mind explaining to me why you have your medical examiner looking at remains you've just dug up here at the lab?"

Horatio looked at Stetler then, for a second, passed him. On the stairs leading to his office, stood Eve. She was looking at Rick and even though Horatio couldn't see her face he sure as hell felt her rage hissing through the air conditioning.

He looked back at Rick. "I thought you'd recognize a murder when you saw it," he said.

"Well Mrs. Woods told me the whole story and, frankly Horatio, I don't think it's very funny," said Stetler. "Calleigh has also told me that you claim that you're being visited by a 'girl in blue' and I don't think that funny either."

Horatio looked passed him again. "I think I hear your elevator, Rick," he said and proceeded up the stairs to his office.

Eve sat on the sofa, looking out the window.

Horatio closed the door. "Eve," he said softly and she turned her head slightly to look at him. "What can I do for you?"

"I think you know what my answer is on that Horatio," she answered. Her voice was hollow and ethereal, like she was talking in a great big echo chamber. "What your lady has found out about me…it is not the whole truth."

Horatio sat beside her, very much aware that she was as translucent as a block of ice shining in the sunlight. The office was chilly with her presence and she didn't feel as edgy as she did, but she was still wringing her hands.

"Eve, what can I do to help put you to rest?"

She stood and looked down at him. Then without a word she strolled out of the office but Horatio was fast this time and was running after her. "Eve!" he cried but she kept going, never looking behind her, her cape sweeping across the floor like blue water. She was heading toward the firearms lab, were Calleigh was as she was sorting out evidence envelopes from previous cases.

"Eve!"

She paused at the door and looked at him, her hand on the knob. Then she seeped into the door and out again on the other side.

When Horatio entered the lab he found that it had changed again, this time to what he knew was to be Eve's bedroom. And there she was, sitting at her windowsill dressed in her usual blue gown and cape and she was staring out into the sunlit world. As he neared her Horatio wasn't surprised to see that she was heavily pregnant and looked as if she hadn't slept in months. She was also bruised and pale, had her father beaten her again?

She eased herself to her feet and plodded over to a wash basin that sat on a table. She poured some water into a bowl and then leaned on the edge of the table, her face showing pain as she placed a hand on her full belly. She stayed like that for a second before slowly making her way toward the window seat.

She stopped at the middle of the floor with a cry of sharp pain, slightly doubling over, both hands encircling her belly. She took a couple of deep breaths, then tried to make her trek again before stopping again. This time she looked panic-stricken and the room echoed with the distinct sound of her water breaking. She looked down at the liquid pooling about her feet in horror then she turned around and gingerly waddled to her bedroom door, right where Horatio was standing. She put her hand on the knob but couldn't open it for at that moment she doubled over again, a shout of agony escaping her mouth as she did so. There was no doubt about it…her baby was coming and coming fast.

She fell to the floor, writhing on the floor in agony and Horatio was at her side in a hot second, trying to find something – anything – to use as a pillow for her head. Eve was sobbing; God knew how much pain she was in at this point…

"We need some help in here!" cried Horatio. "Come on…somebody!"

No one came in; maybe her father was back at the pub getting smashed again. As he tried to take hold of her hand Horatio had a sick feeling in his stomach that told him that no one would be coming to help Eve that she'd be delivering the baby all by herself.

She propped herself up on her elbows, tears streaming down her face as she braced herself for another contraction. And whether she heard him or not Horatio was going to be her coach.

"Come on, Eve," he said. "Push honey!"

Her face contorted in the worst possible agony imaginable, she seemed to hear him as she pushed, her teeth bared, sweat pouring down her face and mixing with her tears, her screams of pain seemed to fill the room and bounce off the walls. Then she relaxed for a bit, her head falling back as she gasped for air. Then she pushed again, this time for longer, her shrieks louder and more gut-wrenching. The smell was horrible and the sight of blood on her was too much for Horatio, but he couldn't turn away now. Eve had nobody. She needed him.

"You're doing wonderfully," he said. "Come on sweetheart, you're almost through!"

She gave one more, final, big, push and sure enough the body of a newborn baby was coaxed out of her and onto the rug. Eve struggled to sit up and took the baby in her arms, a weak smile on her face as it began to scream and cry. She wrapped it up in a bed sheet and pulled back her bodice so her child could have its first meal. By the look in her eyes Horatio could tell that she was falling head over heels in love with her baby.

He never felt more proud of her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Once he got back to his own time Horatio found that Alexx had stopped by and had dropped off a couple of library books on ghosts and had also left a note. _Horatio,_ it said, _Calleigh said that you were interested in Eve Thompson's story so I've loaned you two of the library books I've found that have it in. Hope you're feeling better! Alexx._

Horatio sat down and picked up one of the books. _Florida Hauntings_ was the title and sure enough Eve's story was in there under the chapter title "The Girl in Blue". As Horatio read it he paid attention to the details and couldn't help but relive the scenes that she had shown him previously and his skin crawled.

_Except this book says that Eve threw her baby off the roof and then jumped_, he thought. _Something about that doesn't sit right._

Why would she lie to me when I'm trying to help her?

He didn't need to look at the other book but he did look at the author's name of _Florida Hauntings_: Viviane Stevens.

He flipped out his cell phone and dialed. "Eric," he said. "Get me contact information of Miss Viviane Stevens."

"Sure thing, H," replied Eric. "Can I ask why?"

"She and I need to have a little chat."

- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

Viviane Stevens wasn't really the kind of person Horatio would take for a ghost hunter but when she showed up at the crime lab he saw that he had been wrong. She was a small woman of about forty, with short gray hair and blue eyes and a soft voice. When she shook Horatio's hand she smiled.

"Lieutenant Caine, right?" she asked.

"Yes. And you must be Miss Stevens."

"Please, call me Viviane." The woman looked about the lab. "Your officer said that you've seen the ghost of Eve Thompson around since you've had your car accident. That true?"

"I have. She talks to me," said Horatio, feeling like Haley Joel Osmond telling Bruce Willis that he saw dead people for a moment.

"Well, sometimes traumatic incidents can unleash paranormal events Lieutenant," replied Viviane. "Seeing that you began to see Eve right after your accident would prove that right. What has she said to you?"

Horatio told her everything, from the pink goo – which he discovered was called ectoplasm – to Eve showing him her traumatic past. Viviane listened quietly, occasionally nodding her head, looking very interested. After a bit she said, "I see."

"What does it mean, Viviane?" asked Horatio.

"It means, Lieutenant that she's found a friend in you. It means that everything written down about Eve Thompson is wrong," said Viviane. "Tell me, did you ever put her remains back in the grave where you found them?"

Horatio felt insulted. "No," he said with an edge of anger in his voice. "She and the baby are scheduled for proper burial in the cemetery sometime today."

Viviane smiled. "Just asking, Lieutenant," she said. "Believe me; I want what's best for Eve too. Did you run her remains passed your medical examiner by any chance?"

"I did."

"And what did she say?"

At that moment their conversation was interrupted by screams coming from the firearms lab. _Oh great,_ thought Horatio angrily. What next?

When he and Viviane arrived they were met by a hysterical Calleigh, who ran straight into Horatio's arms. She was sobbing and he didn't fail to notice the bleeding cut on her cheek. "Calleigh, are you OK?" Horatio asked softly, tilting his head slightly to look at her. She nodded quickly. "OK, sweetheart, take a couple of deep breathes. What happened?"

"I was gathering up evidence to put into the evidence locker," began Calleigh, "when…I don't know…all of the sudden someone started throwing things all around the lab. I tried to get her to stop but she kept going, she hit me with something hard…"

"Who's 'she', Calleigh?"

"I couldn't see her, Horatio, I'm sorry."

Horatio looked at Viviane, who nodded. "Poltergeist activity," she said. "I think Eve doesn't want someone here or she just wants attention."

She certainly has it, thought Horatio irritably. Making ectoplasm come out of the floor and showing him a dead baby was one thing, hurting his ballistics expert was another. What was Eve's problem? Whatever it was, Horatio planned to have one long talk with her about her temper.

"OK, sweetheart, now I need you to go get cleaned up," said Horatio to Calleigh. "I'll take care of this."

As he said this he looked passed Calleigh's shoulder and saw Eve standing there, twisting her hands and looking at Viviane with a look of unbridled hatred on her face.

_In my office,_ Horatio told her silently. _Now._

Eve only gave him a curt nod.

"Viviane," he said, this time to Stevens, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The woman seemed to understand.

"Of course," she said. "Well, goodbye Lieutenant Caine. Good luck."

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She was by the window when he shut the door to his office, her back to him but he knew that she was listening. "You mind explaining to me about your little show in the firearms lab?" asked Horatio.

"Is she gone?" returned Eve, only this time her voice had a trace of anger in it.

"Who?"

"That…that woman. Is she gone?"

Horatio was confused. "You mean Calleigh?" he asked.

"No. The other woman." Eve turned around to face him. "Why did you bring her here, Horatio?" she cried. Her echoic voice bounced off the walls and windows. "She knows nothing about what really happened…why I had to kill my baby. You don't need her help. I most certainly don't wish for it."

Horatio edged closer to her but she shrunk away. "Eve," he said. "I'm trying to help you. I thought that she might have information…"

"About what? My father forcing himself upon me as if I were no more than a slave to be used like a plaything? The truth I had gave birth to his bastard child whom he wanted nothing to do with?" She was weeping. "She lied about me Horatio," she wept. "She knows nothing."

Horatio reached out slightly as she slowly stepped up next to him, sending a chill up his spine. "That's not the reason why you threw a fit, was it?" he asked softly. She nodded.

"She is my father's descendant," she said quietly. "I don't want to see anything that would remind me of that monster…let alone a descendant."

Horatio understood that. "I'm sorry."

"Please…don't apologize. You were not the one who had done wrong."

Horatio appreciated that, really he did, but there was something on his mind. If Eve wanted more of his help, she would have to show him what really happened the day she died.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

With Eve's words still ringing in his head Horatio sat down behind his computer and pulled up the Google website. What Eve had told him had disturbed him, and he decided that now maybe it was time to look up Viviane Stevens' family history.

Typing _family genealogy_ into the search engine, he was amazed (and a little bewildered) to find that there were 3,440,000 results for it. That was going to take all night.

_Damn…this is bad._

Bad because the case was growing colder. Bad because everyone on the team literally hated his guts because he was pursuing an investigation over something that happened over two hundred years ago. Bad because of the suffering that Eve was still going through two hundred years later after her death. If Horatio didn't find any answers to this mystery soon, he might not get anywhere and Eve would never get to rest in peace.

He hit the website and then clicked on the "Search" icon. Under "Family Finder Search" he typed: _Viviane Stevens_ and hit "Go". It took two seconds for another screen to come up and Horatio's mouth nearly dropped open at what he saw. Viviane had strong ties to the Thompson family from what it looked like, all of that connection coming from her father's side. Eve's name was listed, and above her name was the name of Daniel Thompson – presumably Eve's monster of a father.

Oh yeah, Viviane was a direct descendant to Daniel Thompson. No wonder Eve got into a tizzy when she was in the lab. She had been right.

What else did Eve say about Viviane? She lied about me, Horatio, she knows nothing. Lied how? Was it involving the circumstances of her death? One thing was certain, as he took another look at Viviane's book, Horatio discovered that Stevens had followed the traditional route of false story-telling and reported that Eve had gotten pregnant by her American lover and not by her father as an act of rape. And what was more; Eve was portrayed as some kind of whore who desperately wanted the wanton attentions of young men who just wanted to get into her pants.

_That lying harpy!_

Once again that vision of Eve's tortured face as her father brutalized her body filled every corner of his mind and the fact that Viviane would openly lie to her readers incensed him.

He glanced at his watch. Seven-thirty. He still had time to call Viviane up and ask her for yet another interview.

_Only this time, she's got some explaining to do._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Viviane brushed a lock of her hair away from her face and gave Horatio what look like a smile full of false cheer. "It's awfully late, Lieutenant," she said sweetly. "Shouldn't you be going home?"

"What's the matter, Viviane, are you afraid that Eve might go postal in my labs again?" asked Horatio in a biting tone of voice. That shut her up.

"I don't know what you mean…"she began in a shaking voice.

"Eve did that little show in my firearms lab because you upset her, Viviane, and I think you know why, so don't come in here and play dumb with me."

She frowned. "I think you're being very rude, Lieutenant Caine," she said in an almost little-girl voice. "What Eve was doing is typical behavior for a ghost. She's just upset."

"Upset because you lied about her," said Horatio, giving Viviane such a serious look that she flinched. He pushed the copy of _Florida Hauntings_ in front of her for emphasis. "You said her boyfriend got her pregnant when you knew that her own father did and you knew she was respectable and not some hooker on the street. Eve knows that and that's why she had kittens while you were here." He glared at Viviane. "Right?"

Viviane glared back. "You were talking to my sister Harriet, weren't you? She's just jealous that I'm a writer who earns the big bucks while she has her little accounting job that pays zip. She's trying to decry my work."

"But Harriet isn't really an accountant, isn't she, Viviane?" asked Horatio. "She's really your family historian who knows the dirt on your family's dark secret and she's trying to uncover it."

Viviane's expression darkened considerably and she turned away slightly for a moment, giving a tiny laugh of nervousness. Then she looked back to Horatio.

"When I was growing up," she said, "I was taught by my grandfather and my father that Eve was a little slut and that she was a traitor to the family. I mean, what would you do if you found out that your daughter was banging an enemy behind your back?"

"I certainly wouldn't rape her to get the point across," said Horatio.

"Her father didn't rape her, Lieutenant. The men in our family have good moral fiber. Eve got pregnant by her boyfriend."

Horatio placed the photograph of Eve's pelvis in front of the woman. "See that fracture on her pelvis, Viviane?" he asked. "That tells me that the sex wasn't consensual. That it was rape."

"Maybe he was too rough with her…"

"Or, maybe the men in your family don't have good moral fiber and Eve was raped by her father."

"Can you prove that?" snapped Viviane.

"I sure can." Horatio placed a DNA report in front of her. "Luckily for us, Eve still had some semen on her dress that was still workable and it's a match to her father. Your sister also confirmed it with the birth certificate that Eve later obtained for her baby soon after she gave birth, and Daniel Thompson is I.D.d as the father."

Viviane said nothing. She just glared.

"If Thompson and Eve were here in this time," said Horatio. "He'd be locked up in an eight-by-eight inch cell tagged with the rep as a child rapist. And you know how bad that is."

Viviane replied, "I'm not going to apologize for Daniel, Lieutenant, and I sure as hell won't beg for your forgiveness."

"I don't want it," Horatio said. "But I know someone who's waited two hundred years for it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Standing outside the crime lab Horatio watched as a very angry Viviane Stevens got into a cab and drove off. He felt satisfied that he had won one battle for Eve, but deep down stirred that little bug of needing to win the next and final battle for her: discovering the truth behind her death.

The world began to sway and he grabbed hold of the banister to steady himself. The painkillers still made him woozy even though he had cut down the dosage and a well of nausea settled in the pit of his stomach. His head began to ache.

_Damn,_ he thought. _And_ _I don't even have time to take another pill_. It was getting late and he should be getting home_. Not until you take care of Eve_, he told himself. _Remember, she needs you._

The door to the lab opened behind him and Calleigh brushed by, giving him a small smile. Horatio saw that her cheek had a Band-Aid on it and he felt even more pissed off at Viviane for causing Eve to go postal in his lab. A clean-up crew would be here in the morning to clean up the mess.

"Good night," he called out to Calleigh.

"Good night, Horatio," she called back.

He heard footsteps behind him and suddenly felt cold and the hem of her blue cape touch his leg. "Ma'am?" he asked Eve.

"How did you know it was I?"

"When I've been haunted by a ghost for a day I tend to know." He smiled at her. "You're looking better…you're not so jumpy."

She met his stare openly. "In the presence of a protector of justice one tends to relax," she said simply, but Horatio noticed her smile in the shadow of her hood.

"What can I do for you?"

She didn't say anything for a moment then said: "I need you to come back with me. I need you to know."

"Know what?" asked Horatio.

"The truth of my death."

Horatio glanced at his watch. Close to nine, he realized, but now was not the time to quit. When he looked at Eve he didn't fail to see the look of desperation on her face and that for some reason she was trembling.

"All right," he said. "But this time let me open the door."

- - - - -- -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - --

The baby was a girl and she was happily gurgling away in her bassinet when Eve and Horatio walked into her bedroom. The room smelled of powder and lavender and from the way the bassinet was positioned in the far corner of the room Horatio guessed that Eve didn't want her father to know about the baby.

Eve knelt and picked up the child, holding her close and singing to her quietly as the baby began to get fussy. As he stood beside her Horatio noticed that the baby had a striking resemblance to Eve's father but it didn't destroy her cuteness. He wanted to know her name and her age, feeling more like a doting grandfather than some cop from the twenty-first century who just waltzed in for a visit, but he knew that here Eve couldn't speak to him…but she knew he was here.

Eve moved to the window and sat on the sill with the baby in her arms and looked out the window. She looked worried about something, and Horatio had a feeling that he knew why. Her bastard of a father was probably out again and Eve was obviously terrified of when he would be coming home. The bruises on her face were healing slowly but it was apparent that the mental scars weren't by the look in her eyes.

Sure enough the sound of a slamming door caused her to snap out of her thoughts and she looked to the door with a gasp when her father called her name drunkenly and the sounds of thudding drunken footsteps on the stairs got louder and louder.

Eve leapt to her feet and almost placed her baby back into the crib when he opened the door. Instantly his face became red with rage when his watery eyes fell on the baby and then he smiled.

"What's this, then?" he asked. "A bastard child by your American lapdog? Let me see it."

"Don't you touch her, you monster," replied Eve, her voice trembling. "Leave her be."

Her father came to her in two paces and slapped her across the face, sending her sprawling. When she tried to stand he lifted her up by her throat. "Don't talk to me like that, you whore!" he shouted. "I'll not tolerate the offspring of some pig dog and my whore of a daughter in my house! It dies…today!"

The baby began to cry, loudly. Eve's gray eyes grew wide and defiant. "You'd do that, wouldn't you, Father?" she spat. "Kill an innocent child…even if it is yours."

At that her father let her go and shock settled like a cloak on his face. Then his baleful eyes settled onto the baby and Horatio knew what was going to happen.

He grabbed the baby, screaming, from her cradle and instantly Eve was on him, beating him with her fists, shouting, "Leave her be! Leave her be!", but he threw her to the floor and took off with her shrieking child in his arms.

"_Father!_" screamed Eve, and she was out the door before Horatio could stop her. He followed her down a winding hallway to a staircase that led to the roof of the house and soon out onto the roof were a horrific sight met his eyes: Eve's father, holding the screaming baby over his head and Eve clawing at him desperately, trying to wretch her child away from him, pleading: "Father, please, I beg you don't do this! She's a child…she did no wrong! Please don't!" But it was no use reasoning with him.

He pushed her away and threw the baby, screaming, off the roof.

Eve's agonized screams mingled with those of her child's and she fell to her knees as she watched her baby fall to her death. There was a sickly _thud!_ and at that Horatio turned away, his eyes burning with tears. _Why?_ he thought. _That baby did nothing wrong…why?_

Eve grew deathly silent, her eyes tearful and locked onto the dead body of her baby below.

"Now that that's done," said her father breezily.

She stood and turned slowly to face him. When she spoke her voice was cold. "What do you wish to do now, Father?" she asked. "Do you plan to rape me once more now that you've killed your own child? How many more children do you plan to tear out of my womb before you're satisfied?" Her face then became contorted with fury and she lunged at her father, slapping him and clawing at his eyes. "You monster!" she screamed at him. "You vile thing of hell! I curse you! Do you hear me? _I curse you!_"

Her father growled and took hold off her wrists easily, spitting in her face. "Damn the day you were born!" he roared and began to drag her to the edge of the roof. She struggled but by then some of the fight had left her. Her eyes were wide, for Horatio knew what was coming and she knew it also. "Please, Father," she whimpered. "Don't do this! I'm your daughter, for the love of God!"

As if someone had stuck a pin into his back Horatio came to Eve's aide, trying to wrench her away from her father but he couldn't do anything. He would just have to watch Eve die.

_Oh God, Eve, I'm so sorry…if only I could have done something…_

Her father glared at her as he pulled her up before him. "No whore is a daughter of mine!" he shouted and with that he pushed her off the roof.

"_Eve!_" Horatio cried but it was too late.

She was falling slowly now but still falling; her screams were sharp and as high as a bird's when it's being tortured, her arms moving in slow circles as if she were trying to fly. Her hair streamed out behind her as she fell backwards, her eyes wide and mouth open like a pink-lipped O. Her eyes remained locked on Horatio's even if he had trouble seeing her expression because of the tears streaming fiercely from his eyes.

When she landed there was the same disgusting _thud_ noise and again Horatio turned away, eyes burning, heart breaking.

He heard the sound of her father as he whispered, "Oh dear God, what have I done?", but he felt no sympathy for him…not by a long shot.

Horatio left that bastard up there by himself and walked over to where the lifeless body of Eve lay beside that of her baby. Taking off his suit jacket he covered the baby and then knelt beside her dead mother. Eve lay there, arms outstretched like a blushing bride awaiting her lover, her eyes open and gazing at Horatio with lifeless love. A pool of blood was forming around her and a stream of red was oozing from the right corner of her mouth.

Very gently he gathered her limp still-warm body up in his arms and held her there, breathing in the lavender scent of her hair, feeling the warm blood seep into his clothes and spread over his hand. If this was something he could never do for her in life, it was something he could at least do for her in death.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The funeral of Eve Thompson and her nameless baby occurred on the rainiest Thursday that Miami had ever seen. Because of a doctor's appointment Horatio wasn't able to attend though once he returned to work Calleigh sidled up beside him and smiled.

"How are you feeling, H?" she asked.

"A lot better," said Horatio. "Thank you."

Calleigh smiled again and said, "You know, everyone looked high and low for your suit jacket but we didn't find a thing. I guess that's one case we couldn't solve…your sunglasses were in there."

Horatio didn't care about the jacket, or the sunglasses. What he cared about was details from the funeral. "How was the funeral?" he asked.

Calleigh nodded slightly. "It was good despite Eric, Ryan, and I getting soaked," she said. "Eve and her baby were buried together and the priest had some nice words to say."

"Was anyone else there?" asked Horatio.

"If you mean Miss Stevens, no, she wasn't there. Probably a good thing too…I imagine that Eve wouldn't have liked it one bit."

"You're right there," replied Horatio with a thin smile.

Calleigh saw behind his eyes. "Do you want to take off early so you can go see her grave? I can cover you for the day."

"You don't mind?"

"I don't mind a bit, H. Get going."

Horatio nodded his thanks and climbed into the Hummer, having, for a brief moment, a minor flashback of his accident, but he soon pushed it out of his mind as he started the engine. One bad memory floating among other unpleasant memories was not going to keep him from seeing Eve's grave.

Yet memories have funny ways of still affecting you in the here and now and as he drove toward the cemetery, Horatio couldn't help but look about fearful of another truck slamming into him once more. And yet, a part of him morbidly hoped that it would for that would give him a chance to see Eve again.

Wouldn't it?

_No it wouldn't,_ he thought. _Stop pretending…she and her baby are together again and she's OK now. She will never see you again._

That thought actually made his chest hurt. He had actually grown to love her like a daughter (true, a deceased one), and even though their time together had been short, he couldn't stop feeling that he had truly cared about her.

His cell phone rang. It was Calleigh. "Eve's buried on the southwest side of the cemetery," she said. "Just thought you'd want to know."

"Thank you, pal," said Horatio with a smile that she couldn't see and he hung up.

The cemetery was quiet and barren of life. It smelled of rain and flowers and the sun shone clearly through the gray clouds that still lingered on, threatening Miami with yet another downpour. As Horatio walked in he kept repeating Southwest side, southwest side, in his head, his hands clutching the bouquet of roses that he just bought from the florist.

There she was.

The gravestone had Eve's name on it and the words and her unknown child beneath it, along with the etching of an angel above. Two pots of roses were on either side, but there was also something else that made Horatio set down the flowers quickly and he stepped back staring in disbelief.

There, folded neatly on top of Eve's gravestone, was his jacket with the sunglasses resting in the pocket.

He picked it up and, looking at the grave and smiling, slipped it on. Then he paused, for there was something written beneath Eve's nameless baby, something that made him call Calleigh again.

"Calleigh," he said, "was there anything written on Eve's stone by any chance? An epitaph maybe?"

Calleigh paused. "No," she said finally. "Nothing at all. Why ask, Horatio?"

"Because there's something written here now," said Horatio quietly, eyes glued to the gravestone. Written at the very bottom of it were these words:

HE SAVED ME.

End


End file.
